In what was ultimately the final time Knox News got to ask Dolly Parton a question directly, her heartfelt response sparkled with words of wisdom.
“Never forget who you are. Never forget where you came from. And always, kind of, go back home. You can always go back home in your heart and in your mind,” Parton told Knox News in March at Dollywood for the opening of the theme park's 41st season.
The occasion was a homecoming of sorts. It was her first major in-person public appearance since late 2025 because of her health issues. But being in the Smoky Mountains and uplifting her fans was always important to her.
Parton had dreams that took her far beyond the Smokies, but she never forgot the mountains and the people that shaped her. Through the values
instilled in her as a young girl, she lived a life rooted in hard work, love and service.
Here are some of her "Dolly-isms" that she lived by, and maybe a few of them will resonate with you for Sept. 25, now known as Dolly Parton Day.
‘Always remember where you came from’
During the 2026 Dollywood opening, Knox News asked Parton about the piece of wisdom and advice that continued to guide her. Wise words from her mother, Avie Lee Parton, came to mind.
“My mom used to say that to me, ‘Don't ever forget who you are. Don't ever forget where you came from,'” Parton recalled.
“But some people try (to forget) it. And it never works out for them,” she continued. “Just ... stay true to your roots. Don't try to run away from yourself. Don't try to outgrow your family and get above your raising, as they say. So, just always remember where you came from.”
Parton and her 12 siblings grew up in a two-room cabin in Locust Ridge that was filled with love, faith and music. She began singing in her grandfather’s church and went on to perform around East Tennessee.
Eventually, she moved to Nashville to become a country music star and traveled the world. Leaving Locust Ridge didn’t mean abandoning her values or family, though.
Home is what led her to develop Dollywood, hotels and other businesses that not only support the region but bring the world to the place that raised her.
“This is where I drew my first breath. So, of course, this would be where I would want to do something wonderful, to be part of something great. And just stay part of these mountains forever,” she told Knox News in 2023.
When flooding caused by Hurricane Helene devastated parts of East Tennessee in 2024, Parton visited Newport to personally donate to relief efforts.
“I just want you to know that I am totally with you because I am part of you. I love you,” Parton told a crowd of over 250 community members. “I look around and I think: These are my mountains, these are my valleys, these are my rivers flowing like a stream. These are my people … and this is my home.”
‘Do not confuse dreams with wishes’
As a little girl, Parton used a tin can attached to a broom handle as a pretend microphone and performed to an “audience” of chickens in the yard. And when she told classmates she was going to move to Nashville to become a star, they laughed.
Parton had huge dreams, and she knew just wishing on a star wasn’t going to be enough.
“Do not confuse dreams with wishes. There is a difference,” Parton told graduates during her 2009 University of Tennessee at Knoxville commencement address.
“Dreams are where you visualize yourself being successful at what’s important to you to accomplish. Dreams build convictions because you work hard to pay the price to make sure that they come true.”
Parton took chances throughout her career, beginning with her move to Nashville the day after she graduated from high school.
Following her dreams, she continued to take leaps of faith by leaving "The Porter Wagoner Show," crossing over into pop music and acting, creating a theme park and launching various business ventures.
“Nobody ever makes it without hard work. Now working hard is not just effort. It’s learning. It’s trying new things and it’s about taking chances,” Parton continued in the 2009 UT address. “Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but one thing is for sure. If you never try, you’re never going to win.”
Even just before she died, Parton was hard at work tweaking her upcoming biographical Broadway musical and gearing up to open her new SongTeller Hotel and Life of Many Colors Museum in Nashville. And she personally created a roadmap of projects to be released for decades after her death.
“I need to be busy,” Parton told Knox News in 2023. “I'm motivated and I'm inspired, and I live on spiritual and creative energy and those are two mighty forces.”
‘To thine own self be true’
Parton made no apologies about her appearance – big hair, tight clothes, high heels, rhinestones, makeup and all. Her style was partly inspired by a Sevier County woman people often called the “town tramp,” but a young Parton thought she was beautiful.
Some people used Parton’s look and Southern personality to underestimate her intelligence or business sense, but she always used fashion to express herself. That has given many of her fans the freedom to do the same.
“Who else can you be if you can't be you? I mean, it's OK to be different than other people,” she told Knox News in 2023.
“I've just always wanted to be me. I want people to leave me alone to be myself. And I want people to leave you alone to be yourself. It's like that saying: ‘To thine own self be true,’” she added.
She even wrote a song in 2022 specifically with this message. “Whoever you are, be that. Whatever you do, do that. Because anything else is just an act,” she sings in “Be That.”
Parton refused to let herself be defined by someone else.
“I know who I am, I know what I can and can’t do. I know what I will and won’t do. I know what I’m capable of,” she said in a 2008 Billboard interview.
‘Find that God light in everybody’
Parton grew up in the church and her mother read from the Bible to Parton and her siblings. Through her adulthood, she kept a spiritual journal filled with scriptures related to things she was working through.
She let her faith guide her walk through life, and she spread love to those she encountered.
“I really do ask God every single day to let me do something, say something, be something that matters to somebody else. To make somebody feel good,” she told Vogue in 2016.
It also shaped what she saw in other people and her belief that people should be allowed to live as themselves.
“I try to find that God light in everybody, which I think we all have our own little light,” she told Knox News in 2023. “I don’t feel like I’m a good enough Christian or anything else to pass judgment on anybody else. You know, that’s not my job. That’s not my place.”
For instance, Parton was a staunch supporter of the LGBTQ+ community for years.
"We're not supposed to try to change people. We should allow people to be who they are, and love them as they are," Parton told Joy Behar in a 2009 TV interview. "I think God made us who we are and how we are," she said later in their conversation.
And she believed in the power of prayer, where she found comfort during difficult periods in her own life, including grief and health issues.
“When things get bad, just pray. If it gets worse, pray harder,” she told Knox News in 2023.
‘To whom much is given, much is required’
Being a flashy big star was something Parton dreamed about since she was a little girl. But what’s the point of fame and fortune if you can’t share it with the people you love?
“To whom much is given, much is required. So, I look at my life with that every day and think that God expects it of me. I expect it of myself, and I think people expect it of me,” she told Billboard in 2020.
Parton was married to Carl Dean for nearly 60 years. The couple had no children but felt the need to give back and inspire children around the world through the Imagination Library. The free book program was the achievement of which her father, who couldn’t read or write, was most proud.
In 2025, Parton received an honorary Academy Award for her humanitarian and philanthropic efforts, which included donating millions for natural disaster relief and medical research, and funding academic scholarships for children.
"My mama and daddy showed me by example that the more you give, the more blessings come your way. And I have tried my whole life to live by their example," Parton said when accepting the honorary Oscar.
Knox News once asked how she decided what causes to support. “I just give from my heart. I never know what I’m going to do or why I’m gonna do it. I just see a need, and if I can fill it, then I will,” she responded.
“I think people will remember us for who we were, not how many records we sell, or how much money we make,” she noted in her 2009 UT address.
Dolly Parton became a global icon. She conquered the entertainment industry with classic songs, hit movies and popular TV specials. She conquered the business world with theme parks, hotels, baking goods, cookware, makeup, dinner theaters and much more.
But for her, it was all for one thing: “Love is the greatest force of all, if we can manage to do it. And it’s not always easy,” she told Knox News in 2023. “But all you can do is just to try.”
Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com.
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Get your copy of ‘Dolly: A Life of Many Colors’
East Tennessee will never forget Dolly Parton – and now you can make your memories all the brighter with "Dolly: A Life of Many Colors," a 160-page commemorative hardcover from the Knoxville News Sentinel and The Tennessean.
The exclusive collector's edition chronicles Parton's journey from her Appalachian roots to the Grand Ole Opry stage, her biggest hits and movies and the creation of Dollywood, through compelling photographs with the stories behind them. Order your copy today at usatodaystore.com to get it before the holidays.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: The sweetest ‘Dolly-isms’ to live by in honor of 9/25 Dolly Parton Day | Exclusive
